The $20,000 prize is a joint effort of the American University of Kuwait and the “Cultural Circle,” a local literary discussion group headed up by Kuwaiti writer Taleb Alrefai. Its inaugural prize went, last December, to Mazen Maarouf’s Jokes for the Gunmen, forthcoming in English translation by Jonathan Wright.

The shortlist is set to be announced at the beginning of November, with the winner announced in December. In addition to the $20,000, there is also a fund to support translation of the winning collection into English, and $5,000 for each of the shortlisted authors.